Partings
by Adnama C
Summary: A short little fiction. Shido's thoughts after the death of one of those close to him.


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A/N: Hey there, reader! Thanks for deciding to check out this little ol' story of mine! It's based on the anime 'Nightwalker' (which I love! Shido can stop **MY** clock any day! ) , and I really hope that I somehow managed to do the series justice by at least keeping the characters in...well...character. Anyway, I'll stop babbling uselessly now and just let you read...but first…

**DISCLAIMER**: Oh what I wouldn't give to own Shido! But alas! I do not. Shido and all his buddies belong to their creator, Ayana Itsuki. I'm just borrowing them for awhile.

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"Partings"

Large, heavy drops of cooling rain fell like an angel's tears from the dark sky. Already small puddles were beginning to form here and there on the soggy ground, slowly growing larger as the water continued to fall seemingly without end. Along the down sloping sides of well paved streets small rivers were beginning to run, flowing quickly only to disappear into grates set into the ground. All around the light pitter-pat that always comes with the rain filled the early night as it struck against the ground and tree leaves, keeping the night from being completely silent. Even the local park, filled with paths twisting almost aimlessly through tall trees, was empty of people. Even at night that green area was usually occupied with people wandering about; couples holding hands and speaking in low voices, small clumps of teenagers laughing and talking loudly about that day's events, and a few people eager to get home after staying overtime at work.

"Oh, Yayoi-san..." A voice broke the strange music of the rainy night, sadness coloring the words. The girl, one of two people out in the rain that night, kneeled on the wet ground. She seemed unaware, and if not unaware then completely uncaring, of the weather around her. The top half of her body was slightly hunched, as if she carried a weight that was almost to heavy for her young strength. Her head, usually held straight and proud, was tilted down, a spill of long brown hair falling to either side of her face, completely and effectively hiding her visage from view.

"Riho." A second voice broke the night, this one male, coming from a direction somewhere behind the girl. Only lifting her head slightly as her name was spoken to her, Riho made no other movement to show that she had heard his call.

Shido lowered the arm that held the umbrella over his head and sighed before lifting his face to the sky. Blue-green eyes became hidden behind eyelids as he closed them, enveloping himself in the world of darkness which he had become so very accustomed to. _Not exactly by choice_. He thought grimly, remembering back that day so many years ago when his life had been changed forever. Heaving another sigh he lowered his head and once again brought the umbrella up, not that it would make much of a difference anymore. His few moments free of covering from the rain had near to soaked him. His gaze flickered to Riho, and this time there it stayed. He knew that she must be soaked to the bone, but also knew that, like himself, she didn't care. It's not like she would become sick anyway. Vampires simply didn't catch common colds or the flu. _Nor will we ever die._ It was this remembered knowledge that brought him back to the reason for being out in this cold rain, in this night-deserted graveyard. Lifting his eyes from Riho's still unmoved form he allowed them to drift forward, focusing them on the stone tablet before her. His eyes wandered over the words written there, and a wave of loss and sadness crashed over him.

**Yayoi Matsunaga**

June 15th, 1919 - September 9th, 2003

"You will never be forgotten."

_If only they knew_ He thought, eyes tracing over the words carved for all to see beneath her name. The words spoke more true then the carver of them knew, because Yayoi indeed would live on forever in the memories of both Riho and Shido. The fiery sprit that the two vampires had known so well, the soft heart that she had tried her best to keep hidden, the pain of the horrible death of her twin that she always carried with her but never allowed to consume her, the fierce loyalty that she showed to those she considered friends and allies, and the friendship she had offered to them both despite knowing what they were. These things Shido would always remember of her, and he was sure that Riho would as well.

_Riho..._

He looked from the stone back to the one whom he feared would one day hate him for what he had done, who would one day turn from him in hate as he had turned from Cain. Kind, tender-hearted Riho who had, from that very first meeting, given him her total trust and love. _But not forever. It's never forever_. It was a hard lesson that he had learned over the many years at his back, this lesson in loneliness. He had been so many places, met so many faces and different personalities, created friendships and alliances...only none had survived the test of time as he had. All, right down the last person, had left him. Some of them had left simply by choice after discovering his dark secret while others had been claimed by the slow-killer of time. Riho would leave for a new reason, and he feared that this one would hurt the most of all. Hate. She may not leave for years to come, decades even, but in the end it would still be the same. She would come to hate what he had done to her, what she had pleaded with him to do to her that day years ago, years that seemed more like mere minutes in his long existence. And then she would leave, and he would be alone again.

Despite that knowledge he knew he would not change a thing as it was now. He would live in the moment, enjoying what had become of his life as it came to him. After all, what else was there to do? To think to much on the rest would drive him mad, and mad wasn't a way he wanted to spend the rest of eternity.

"Shido-san."

Blinking himself free of his thoughts he brought his attention to where Riho now stood before him. He had been so deep within his own mind he hadn't noticed she had moved.

"Yes, Riho?"

A smile, forced and holding none of it's usual cheer, curled the corners of her lips upward. It wasn't a very pretty sight, and fell short of reaching her brown eyes by thousands of miles. She stepped forward under the umbrella, and, slipping her arms through one of his, rested her head against his arm before tipping her head up to look into his face.

"Let's go home."

He nodded and, casting one last look to Yayoi's final resting place, turned. "Alright."

_People meet and people part. An unchangeable fact of time_. Riho squeezed gently on his arm, hugging the appendage to her body, as if trying to offer comfort to him against his thoughts. Turning his head down he offered a small, sad smile to her. _But that doesn't mean it gets any easier._

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A/N: Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it, or at least that you didn't hate it totally. Right now as I read it over I'm rather happy with it, but I'm sure that if I go over it in another few days I'll end up hating it. LOL. Oh well, **my **opinion doesn't matter...but yours does! So, please, leave me a review and tell me what you think!_


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